Sky Is Smaller Than the Sea

Product Description

Let's quell the rumor right now: 'The Sky is Smaller than the Sea' is most definitely a concept album about Charles Lindbergh. Here's the story thus far. Alex Zavracky, pianist, met up with Brendan Quigley, guitarist for some beers. Maybe it was Jacks and Coke. Or was it just coke? No matter. Family histories were exchanged and the discovery that both had great grandfathers who had challenged, and lost to, Annie Oakley in a shoot-out. It meant just one thing: they had to start a band. Scrap that idea. A better one is that Alex had but sixteen months to live. He and Brendan enlisted Brad Radkins, drummer, That Girl From Jaws 2, bassist, and Joe Pleiman, candyman/guitarist. Hip Tanaka was formed and the clock was set. Shows of extreme ecstasy were played. Some of these shows were with heavy hitters like Solex. Karate. Collapsis. Garrison. Fablefactory. Okay, some of those aren't heavy hitters. But, Goddamn it, Hip Tanaka were hitting those very stages heavily. So heavily people didn't know whether to scream 'yeah, this is the real deal,' or just shrug their shoulders in mock ironic detachment. Usually both. So the seventeenth month hit and Alex was still kicking it. Maybe it was actually a hundred and sixteen months to live. The momentum, however was too great to stop. Recordings were done, and they knew the songwriting was good when radio stations were spinning it. Hell, wasn't that their song 'Myrna Loy' being spun on NPR of all places? Go figure. This had to be a good thing. It just had to be. And here's where the present day comes into play. The Hip Tanaka machine has become so well-oiled, their writing voice so fully developed, that comparison becomes meaningless. These are the anthems for a generation. A generation fed up of uninventive songwriting. A generation of fed up songwriters. Ladies and gentlemen, say 'hello' to your new favorite band.

Let's quell the rumor right now: 'The Sky is Smaller than the Sea' is most definitely a concept album about Charles Lindbergh. Here's the story thus far. Alex Zavracky, pianist, met up with Brendan Quigley, guitarist for some beers. Maybe it was Jacks and Coke. Or was it just coke? No matter. Family histories were exchanged and the discovery that both had great grandfathers who had challenged, and lost to, Annie Oakley in a shoot-out. It meant just one thing: they had to start a band. Scrap that idea. A better one is that Alex had but sixteen months to live. He and Brendan enlisted Brad Radkins, drummer, That Girl From Jaws 2, bassist, and Joe Pleiman, candyman/guitarist. Hip Tanaka was formed and the clock was set. Shows of extreme ecstasy were played. Some of these shows were with heavy hitters like Solex. Karate. Collapsis. Garrison. Fablefactory. Okay, some of those aren't heavy hitters. But, Goddamn it, Hip Tanaka were hitting those very stages heavily. So heavily people didn't know whether to scream 'yeah, this is the real deal,' or just shrug their shoulders in mock ironic detachment. Usually both. So the seventeenth month hit and Alex was still kicking it. Maybe it was actually a hundred and sixteen months to live. The momentum, however was too great to stop. Recordings were done, and they knew the songwriting was good when radio stations were spinning it. Hell, wasn't that their song 'Myrna Loy' being spun on NPR of all places? Go figure. This had to be a good thing. It just had to be. And here's where the present day comes into play. The Hip Tanaka machine has become so well-oiled, their writing voice so fully developed, that comparison becomes meaningless. These are the anthems for a generation. A generation fed up of uninventive songwriting. A generation of fed up songwriters. Ladies and gentlemen, say 'hello' to your new favorite band.